Russian actresses who will compete for trip to ISS identified
In November last year, we brought our first update on the emerging Russian ‘Movie in Space’ project, with the working title ‘The Challenge’. This would involve sending an actress to the International Space Station, onboard a scheduled Soyuz flight, in late 2021. All the background and details of the key organisations involved can be found here, so we will not repeat all of that content, rather we will pick up the story, as it is now unfolding.
It is fair to say that the project met with a degree of
resistance and opposition, from the Russian scientific and aerospace communities,
with criticism for putting art before science, depriving trained cosmonauts of their flights, and as an inappropriate use of Federal
funds. Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov spoke of ‘over my dead body’! It is
rumoured that the project was taken to Vladimir Putin, for endorsement, to overcome
such resistance, and that Putin gave it the green light.
The original plan was that thirty, or so, woman would be selected,
and they would then compete in a Reality TV style contest, between January and April,
to find the two winners. However, these plans seem to have been scrapped, and for
many weeks, little information emerged, other than a statement that around 3000
applications had been received. This number is around six times the number of
applications received for the last conventional call for cosmonaut applications,
in 2019!
In early March, First Channel, the TV company behind the
project, and Roscosmos announced that the project was proceeding, and a shortlist
of twenty actresses to potentially play the lead role, and her understudy, had
been drawn up. It was also announced that the film’s director, Klim Shipenko,
would also travel to the International Space Station, to oversee the filming
the scenes to be shot in space.
Several well-known Russian actresses appeared in a
promotional video, and were presented as being among the twenty finalists, whilst others commented on Social Media. These included Olga Kuzmina, Svetlana Ivanova, Maria Valeshnaya, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Marina Kazankova and Svetlana Mironenko. Others were featured in a short video about
the audition and selection process. But, there is no published list, from the producers, or
Roscosmos, at this stage.
However, at the Space Sleuthing Blog, we present our ‘unofficial’ list, drawn from these sources and others.
We don't assert that this list is 100% accurate, but we do estimate that twelve or so, of these names are solid, and two or three are more speculative. It is worth remembering, that whoever is chosen will be only the fifth Russian or Soviet woman in space!
The process of putting these twenty through the daunting and
demanding cosmonaut selection process began March, but not all candidates
have yet started. Shipenko has said that they plan to reveal the lead and
understudy, or prime and back-up, in early April. However, this looks ambitious.
Shipenko has also said that he has only partly completed the medical test to
secure his own seat, as the process typically take around a month, so the April
date for the actress, may not be met.
An interesting aspect of the selection process, is that the
producers have chosen several women who are not professional actresses. They
have passed the artistic auditions, but come from different backgrounds,
connected to aviation, aerospace, or extreme sports. There is a pilot, a
parachutist, a psychologist and an aerospace doctor, and probably a couple more.
These are people who have the professional or technical background to enter a regular cosmonaut selection process. They have been chosen for a reason.
The producers always said that ‘ordinary’ women could apply,
and that a small number would be taken to the final stage. But this sub-group
are not ‘ordinary’ women. Analysing the situation, it would appear that this
sub-group are included as something of an insurance policy. If the medical and
physical selection process removes too many of the actresses, perhaps this
group are seen as more likely candidates to make it through, due to their
different backgrounds, and existing skills, experience and knowledge.
Indeed, maybe a tentative plan exists that one of this group
will, at least, be the back-up? The selection will only be the beginning. If a
professional actress is cast in the main role, and therefore the prime Soyuz crew,
there will still be many tough and daunting challenges ahead. Having a back-up with
a different professional background, different skills, a different temperament,
but also acting ability, would make a lot of sense.
Once the selection process has been completed, the actress
and Shipenko will be assigned to the crew of Soyuz MS-19, which will be commanded
by experienced cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. It is due to launch on 5th
October, so time is tight. This flight will now be the first to launch with two
non-professional cosmonauts on board. This milestone was originally planned to
occur on Soyuz MS-20, in December 2021, which will carry two paying ‘space
tourists’ to the ISS. These plans remain in place, and are not impacted by the
movie.
However, other aspects of the Soyuz crew schedule for
2021/22 are impacted. Klim Shipenko and the actress will return to Earth after
around twelve days in space on board Soyuz MS-18, along with departing Soyuz
commander Oleg Novitisky. However, his crew mates, Peter Dubrov and NASA
astronaut Mark Vande Hei will have to wait for a future Soyuz crew exchange, in
order to return to Earth, in early 2022. Head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut
Training Centre, Pavel Vlasov, has said, ‘We will not ask them to do a double shift!’ a reference
to a one year stay, ‘So we will bring Soyuz MS-21 forward, by a few weeks.’
Head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, who is very much one of
the architects of the project, has described the movie project as ‘an experiment’
to see if Roscosmos can prepare two ordinary people for spaceflight in around 3
to 4 months. Rogozin and his colleagues in Glavkosmos, the commercial arm of
Roscosmos, want to sell more seats on future Soyuz missions to wealthy
tourists, and they know that streamlining the time for training and preparation
is key to competing with American players in the market.
One thing is clear though. This project will move quickly
now, and we’ll bring further updates, as they emerge.
Words
© Tony Quine
Graphics
© Maciej Stolowski
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